


Tom from SOCO

by HannibabestheCannibabes



Category: Whitechapel (TV)
Genre: Crush, First Kiss, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-10 20:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12307020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannibabestheCannibabes/pseuds/HannibabestheCannibabes
Summary: Joseph Chandler is forced to face his feelings for Kent after the DC gets involved with a member of the SOCO team.





	Tom from SOCO

**Tom from SOCO**

‘Kent, phone call.’

The dark haired DC looked up from his desk at Riley, holding the phone in her outstretched arm whilst beckoning him over.

‘Who is it?’ He whispered as he took the phone from her, holding it to his chest.

‘Someone from SOCO. Said he met you at the crime scene earlier.’

Shrugging, Kent lifted the receiver to his ear as Meg returned to her work. She glanced over occasionally, trying her best not to listen in to the conversation, watching instead the confusion on her colleague’s face. _Bad news from forensics_ , she thought with a grimace, before directing her attention back to the computer screen in front of her.

* * *

 

‘Any breakthroughs with the case?’ Joseph Chandler asked as he walked into the incident room, causing the team to glance up from their individual work.

‘The victim had no relatives and no friends, from what I can gather,’ Miles responded gruffly. ‘Door to door this morning was a complete waste of time. New to the area. Half his neighbours hadn’t even seen him before.’

‘Fine. That’s fine.’ Chandler sighed, trying desperately to keep the irritation from his face. ‘Find out where he moved from then. Any previous addresses, contacts, anything. Riley, what about CCTV?’

‘CCTV is difficult, sir. Seems the camera that should have caught the crime scene had been broken for weeks. Council said they were in the process of repairing it.’

‘But that doesn’t help us now.’ He fought the urge to rub his temples, turning instead to Kent. ‘Any news?’

‘Nothing so far, sir.’

‘What about that call earlier?’ Riley looked over at the officer with a frown. ‘The call from that SOCO guy? What did he say?’

‘Oh, nothing.’ Chandler frowned as he watched Kent slowly blush a deep red, glancing down as he mumbled. ‘It wasn’t about the case.’

‘What do you mean ‘not about the case’? It was someone from SOCO?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then why did he call?’

‘It was nothing.’ Under the stare of his boss, Kent blushed harder. ‘He asked me out for a drink later.’

Despite his best attempt to say it quietly, the room seemed to erupt into noise at his news. Across the room, Mansell was doing his best impression of a teenage boy, complete with cries of ‘wahey’ and a not so subtle wink. Even Miles looked impressed.

‘Whilst the rest of us are trying to solve a murder, you’re out chatting up the SOCO lads.’ Mansell chuckled. ‘Good on you.’

‘So what’d you say?’ Riley asked, leaning forward in her chair, eyes wide with excitement.

‘I don’t think this is appropriate…’ Chandler raised a hand to interject but was ignored.

‘I said no.’ Kent frowned, crossing his arms as if to protect himself. ‘We’re both police, it’s unprofessional.’

‘Quite right…’

‘What are you on about?’ Miles asked, standing up from his own desk to approach Kent. ‘Police? That’s exactly the reason to accept. When else are you going to get chance to meet someone?’ Kent’s eyes flicked across to the still figure of Joseph Chandler, then flicked back to Miles. ‘Look, did you like him?’

‘I don’t…’

‘When you met him earlier, did you like the look of him? Did you get on?’

‘We discussed the case, I don’t know…’

‘That’s not a no.’ Meg raised an eyebrow, to be met with an appreciative look from Miles, and a scowl from Kent.

The sergeant picked up Kent’s phone and handed it to him. ‘Call him back now and accept, or I’ll phone him for you. And, trust me, it’ll be much better coming from you.’

Kent’s gaze turned to the Inspector again, this time staying there. ‘Sir, would it be…’

‘You don’t need to ask him.’ Miles scoffed, earning a frown from the Inspector.

‘Do it, Kent. Trust me, it’s better than letting Miles phone for you.’ Chandler shook his head, before looking around the room. ‘Then I need everyone back to work.’

* * *

 

The rest of the day was slow. No breakthroughs. No leads. No news. And the passing of every hour told Chandler how much closer it was getting to Kent’s date. A thought that, no matter how many times it passed through his head, seemed to stop his heart each time.

 _You should have seen this coming_ , his inner voice seemed to hiss. _What did you expect? For Kent to sit waiting for a man who never seemed to give him a second glance? For him to be alone until you finally decided to say something? If you ever decided to say something? You’re a coward, Joseph Chandler. No wonder Kent got fed up._

He pulled out his tiger balm and began rubbing his temples, the action slowly diminishing the words pulsing in his mind.

How long had he known about Kent? Long enough. He knew what the team thought about him, how naïve they saw him when it came to relationships. How ignorant when dealing with emotion. He wasn’t. Not as far as they believed. He caught every one of Kent’s glances. Every one of his smiles, when he thought the Inspector wasn’t looking. He saw the way Kent arranged his desk, almost a mirror of his own. And every single time, he felt his own breath catch, and he had to turn himself to stop the team seeing Kent’s smile reflected on his own face. He’d just been waiting for the right time.

And now, it seemed, he’d waited too long.

* * *

 

A hesitant knock on his office, and Kent’s hesitant face around the door. ‘I’m sorry, sir, I just wanted to check there wasn’t anything else that needed doing this evening.’

The shift had ended almost half an hour ago. The rest of the team had already left, each with their own lives to return to. Kent’s date was in twenty minutes, maybe less. Joe glanced quickly at his computer. Less than twenty minutes. ‘Your shift’s already finished.’

‘I know, sir.’ He looked almost bashful. ‘But I don’t mind staying, if anything needs doing. Your shift finished too, but you’re still here.’

He thought about lying, giving Kent something menial, hunting down records for someone almost entirely unconnected to the case, if only to keep him in the office. ‘No, nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow. You have plans tonight, anyway, Kent.’

‘Nothing serious. Drinks.’

Chandler forced himself to smile. ‘Have a good night.’

* * *

 

Mansell slapped Buchan hard on the back, causing him to spill some of his beer on the wooden table. Riley groaned, before pulling a tissue from her bag to mop it up. Buchan gave an appreciative smile, as Miles returned to his seat, drinks in hand.

‘Alright, wine for Riley. Mansell, pint. Boss, whisky.’ He hands them out, meeting Chandler’s eyes as he passes his across. ‘You alright?’

‘Yes.’

‘You don’t have to be here.’

‘Why would I not be?’

A raised eyebrow  in response gives Chandler a suspected answer, but he ignores it, his eyes returning to watch the door of the pub the team was sat in. It was after work, a long shift, but improved for most by the promise of alcohol and Kent’s mysterious SOCO, who he had promised he would be bringing. For Chandler, every minute seemed to ache. Whisky had been helping so far, but he was already on his fourth, and Kent was yet to show.

A cheer as finally a familiar dark haired figure entered the pub, leading a young blonde man behind him. Kent’s face was red by the time he reached the table.

‘This is Tom.’ He gestured to the other man, a smile on his face, as he introduced the team. He couldn’t meet the Inspector’s eyes.

‘Sit down.’ Joe stood up awkwardly, gesturing to his seat, the only seat with an empty one beside it. ‘I’ll get your drinks.’

* * *

 

He wanted to dislike him. Not incredibly so. He didn’t want Kent to be dating a sociopath. He didn’t even want Kent dating a minor criminal. He wanted him to be happy. But still, he wanted there to be something wrong with the blonde man sat opposite him. Arrogant, perhaps. Maybe boring. Even just a couple of poorly timed jokes would have made Joe happier. But Tom seemed perfectly likeable. He was funny. Intelligent. Generous. He brought the next round, not even complaining when Mansell suggested they do shots as well as drinks. He brought them anyway. And now he was sat with his arm casually round Kent, whilst debating with Buchan about some important date in history.

‘Well, outside the job, I’m a big history buff,’ he was explaining to Riley, presumably an answer to a question Chandler had missed. ‘Totally obsessed. Could not believe it when Em told me he’d never been…’ _Em. He called him Em._ ‘So next month, going to take a couple days off and take him to go see it.’

‘Ooh, weekend away. God, I haven’t been on one of them in years,’ Riley said, before smirking. ‘But making plans for next month already?’

‘Why not? I’m not going anywhere. Can’t speak for him, but I’m hoping Em’s thinking the same…’

Chandler missed the rest of the sentence, choosing instead to glance around the pub for Miles, who had disappeared to the bar minutes before. The pub was getting crowded though, and trying to spot anyone at the bar within the throngs of people was next to impossible. Failing to find him, he turned back to see Tom’s hand on Kent’s cheek, his lips on Kent’s…

Joe stood up suddenly, knocking the table in his haste. As everyone looked over, he mumbled, ‘Sorry. I’m sorry. I just need to…’

The rest of the team watched in confusion as the Inspector hurried from the table, retreating into the bathroom.

* * *

 

The splash of the water against his face seemed to calm him. He felt the cold droplets run down his cheeks, grateful to be focusing on something other than the sight of the blonde man kissing DC Kent. He splashed his face again, before tightly screwing the tap, and drying his face with a paper towel. The whisky, so helpful before, was now working in reverse, making him unable to feel anything more than the sinking of his stomach at the smile on Kent’s face, and the arm around him that belonged to another man.

He turned the tap back on and splashed his face again.

‘Sir.’ Chandler turned around, drying his face again, to see Kent stood against the wall, a concerned frown on his face. At the Inspector’s blank stare, he explained, ‘you’ve been a while. We were worr…I was worried.’

Despite himself, he smiled, to be returned by his DC. ‘You needn’t worry. I just needed to…’

‘It’s quite busy now. And loud.’ Kent suggested, as if saving Chandler his explanation, which both knew would be a lie. ‘But are you enjoying the night, sir?’

‘Joe. When not at work, just Joe is fine,’ he said. ‘And yes. Are you? You seem to be.’

‘The team likes Tom, which is all I wanted for the night really. I was dreading him meeting Mansell really, but that’s all worked out fine.’ He moved to stand beside Chandler at the sinks as he spoke, as if only able to mention Tom whilst speaking to the Inspector’s reflection, meeting his eyes almost impossible.

‘And you’re getting on well? With Tom? You’re happy?’ The words came out before he could stop himself, questions designed only to cause himself more pain. He tried to smile as he asked them however, though it seemed unconvincing even to himself.

Kent glanced over at the questions, pausing in his answer as his eyes passed over Chandler beside him. ‘Yes, we work well. I’m happy.’

In the mirror, Chandler watched Kent’s reflection. His cheekbones when he spoke. His eyes as they looked over. The shape of his jaw. In his ears, he heard only his own heartbeat. ‘Then I apologise, because I’m going to be unprofessional.’

He turned to face Kent before he had chance to speak. With long fingers, he tilted the younger man’s face gently up to meet his own, kissing him softly on the lips. The kiss was brief, seconds only, before Chandler broke away.

‘I’m sorry, I…’

Kent kissed him again, unable to wait until the end of his Inspector’s sentence to feel his lips once more. He kissed him harder, his hand on Joe’s cheek, his other around his waist. He felt Joe’s hands around him, fingers running through his hair. And he kissed him harder still.

* * *

 

Kent walked into the office on Monday morning to be met by Riley at his desk, a cup of steaming tea already beside his computer. At his confusion, she gave him a comforting smile.

‘Tom rang this morning about returning your things. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.’ She patted him gently on the shoulder. ‘And I thought Friday went so well. You don’t need to tell me what happened though…’

‘No, it’s no worry. It was my call.’ He watched as Chandler entered his office, turning to meet his eyes for a split second, before closing the door. ‘Work just comes first.’


End file.
